The State Attorney's Office announced Thursday it intends to indict seven men, including close associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former senior defense officials, in a sweeping graft case related to a possible conflict of interest involving a $2 billion purchase of German submarines, known as Case 3000.
State Attorney Shai Nitzan's office said in a statement the seven would be charged with various offenses, among them bribery, money laundering and fraud, pending a hearing.
Netanyahu was questioned, but not named as a suspect, in the submarine probe, but it roped in some of his closest aides and sparked questions about his earnings on a related German submarine sale to Egypt.
Among the men indicted are former Commander of the Israeli Navy Eliezer Marom, former Minister of Science Eliezer Sandberg, lobbyist Miki Ganor, political adviser Rami Tayeb, media consultant Yitzhak Lieber Netanyahu's former bureau chief, David Sharan and Netanyahu's cousin and former attorney David Shimron.